For Keeps
by captainswanproblems
Summary: Emma blacked out when she tried to contain the self-destruct diamond with Regina. Everyone thinks she's dead. What if Tiny had more beans to get the citizens away? What if Emma ended up in Neverland and if Hook found her there? A story of love, hate, and the fine line in between. Rated T for now. Title may be changed. Multiple pairings. CS/MUFIRE/SNOWING. Main pairing CS.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! I hope you enjoy this. I have a lot planned, hehe. Sorry if there's any grammatical errors. I usually publish first and then go back and proofread. Enjoy! **

* * *

**_Nobody said it was easy_**  
**_It's such a shame for us to part_**  
**_Nobody said it was easy_**  
**_No one ever said it would be this hard_**  
_Oh, take me back to the start._

Emma sucked in a breath involuntarily as she felt the energy leaving her body, exhausting her immediately.

Blue and purple sparks of electricity shoots from her pale, cold hands, and she can feel her whole being practically _vibrating_ with energy.

The blonde looked over at the woman in front of her, who had bravely chosen to be selfless, and she saw that she was also beginning to ebb away. As they stood there, holding their hands out to the black diamond, they looked at one another and knew that they were thinking the same thing: this small, measly diamond was probably going to be the end of both of them, the Evil Queen and Prince Charming and Snow White's daughter.

Straining with effort, Emma turned around to see that Mary Margaret, David, and Henry were still standing there, watching them with sorrow, horror, and awe in their eyes. She could tell that Henry and Mary Margaret were about ready to burst into tears. David was obviously trying to keep it together, for the sake of everyone.

"What are you guys still doing here? Run! Go!" Emma yelled, her voice scratchy and desperate. Tears welled up in her eyes as she watched Henry run up to her.

"Mom!" He was crying now. Her hands twitched, and she resisted the urge to reach out and wipe away his tears. "It's barely even been a year since I've found you." As he talked, she could feel the intense heat from the diamond growing stronger and stronger every second. "I'm not ready to leave you!" He was full-out yelling by now, since there was a strange whirring noise in the air, along with strong winds. It was strange, since they were underground.

"I love you too, kid." She smiled through the tears. "Now leave! It's not safe here!"

Mary Margaret finally bursted into tears. "Emma! We don't want to leave you.."

"I said _go_!" The blonde yelled out again, frantic desperation in her voice. It was getting really heated in here.

All three of Emma's relatives hesitated, unspoken words left on their quivering lips. After saying their quick _I love you_'s, they hastily left to attend to the other citizens. Tiny had probably already rounded up every single person in one place. He had, of course, found two extra beans in his pockets. He had claimed that he picked them off before Regina could found and destroy them to go back to the Enchanted Forest to his home up the beanstalk. Now they could all go home.

In front of her, Regina fell onto her knees and clenched her hands so hard they turned white.

"Regina?" Emma called out. No reply. "Regina!"

Emma leaned over ever so slightly to see that her eyes were beginning to flutter shut.

"Regina!" She called out again.

Right then and there, she felt herself do the same. Her knees buckled as an excruciating, white-hot pain washed over her, making her feel as if every single fiber in her entire being was on _fire_. She tried so hard to scream― to make any noise at all― but she found that she couldn't.

She was staring up at the top of the mine shaft, when all of sudden her whole life flashed in front of her eyes.

She saw a little female baby, wrapped in a light purple blanket, embroidered with the name _Emma_. She watched as the baby was placed in the hollow of a tree, the wardrobe, after Prince Charming fought with her on his arm. She watched as her dad got stabbed. She watched as Pinocchio climbed into the wardrobe with her. She watched as they were transported off into the land without magic. She watched as Pinocchio carried her to the nearest foster home and claimed that he had found her off the highway. Then, the scene changed. She was older now, but still young, stupid, and reckless. She saw a blonde girl with her hair tied up in a ponytail and black-rimmed glasses. She watched as Neal climbed into the bug and called her his girlfriend. She watched as they ran around, committing stupid crimes. She watched as he landed her in jail. She watched as Henry was taken away from her. She watched as Graham died. She watched as she found her parents after the curse. She watched as she met Captain Hook himself. Then, he was replaced with the image of Neverland.

And then all she saw was black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it's still a short chapter. I promise they'll get longer as they keep coming!**

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**_Hello, hello_**  
**_Anybody out there? Cause I don't hear a sound_**  
**_Alone, alone_**  
**_I don't really know where the world is but I miss it now_**

_I'm out on the edge and I'm screaming my name_  
_Like a fool at the top of my lungs_  
_Sometimes when I close my eyes I pretend I'm alright_  
_But it's never enough_

_Listen, listen  
I would take a whisper if that's all you had to give  
But it isn't, is it?  
**You could come and save me and try to chase the crazy right out of my head**_

**_I don't wanna be island  
I just wanna feel alive and  
Get to see your face again_**

**_Hello, hello  
Anybody out there?_**

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The first thing that she registered upon waking up was that one, her head hurt like hell, and two, the ground beneath her fucking hurt. It almost felt as if she was lying on a stick.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, only to regret it. She rapidly closed her eyes once more when the sun stung them. She grunted as she turned onto her side to see that she was in fact lying on a giant stick. Using her hands to push herself up slowly, she got off from the ground and dusted the dirt off from her clothes. Where the hell was she?

She looked around her surroundings, turning in a full 360-degrees-circle. She saw the clearest and the bluest of blue skies, the amazingly azure ocean, the soft sand, the vibrantly green jungle filled with beautifully colored flowers, the darkest of caves, and even a freakin' volcano off to the side on the other end of the island.

Emma breathed in deeply through her nose. She panicked. Was she dead? Is this heaven? Where the hell was she?

She had no idea. She was lost and utterly confused.

As she turned to drink in the surroundings once more, she saw that the landscape looked surprisingly like...

Emma gasped.

Neverland.

* * *

As the three hurried out of collapsing mine shaft, it felt as if they were leaving behind a piece of themselves. And they were. Emma was a piece of each of them.

Mary Margaret was openly crying now, her heartbreaking sobs the only sound as of now. They were too shocked by Emma's selfless act of bravery to even speak right now. As the came to the town square, they found the townspeople split into two separate circles, one person from each holding a single bean.

"Where's Emma?" Ruby asked as she looked at the group, worry evident on her face.

Mary Margaret shook her head and closed her eyes as another tear made its way down her cheek. Henry grabbed her hand and squeezed, as did David.

"Now is not the time," David said, almost breathlessly. "We need to get going. Time's running out."

Every single person nodded their heads, and David, Mary Margaret, and Henry joined a circle. David was handed the bean.

"Hold hands and think of the Enchanted Forest. On the count of three, everybody." David paused as he looked behind him again, towards the direction of the mine shaft. He finally teared up as he processed what was actually _happening_. He was leaving his little girl alone.

"One," he began.

He looked over at Henry and his wife, who were each, respectively, trying to hold in tears and crying openly.

"Two."

He felt his heart break as he looked over to the other townspeople to see that some of them were also tearing up. David sighed. Emma was an important person to everyone, that much was clear.

"Three!"

He threw the bean onto the pavement and watched as it bounced once, and then was replaced with a glowing dark green vortex. They all jumped in, and David closed his eyes in pain as he just realized his daughter's fate.

When he opened his eyes again, they were all in the Enchanted Forest. They were all back home. If things were different, he would be smiling joyously right now. He would be laughing and be relieved to be here. He should be happy.

But he wasn't.

* * *

Hook stared at the azure ocean expanding across, just contemplating. He had thrown the bean into the ocean and sailed back to Neverland. He knew he promised to never come back to this treacherous place, but he had to see it again. Something, a force, maybe, pulled him back here.

Earlier, he had sailed back towards Storybrooke to offer Swan his assistance to see that, well, Storybrooke no longer existed. He simply shrugged it off and went back to being just Hook. The one who didn't care about anyone but himself. Knowing the Charming family, one of them, probably Emma, stayed behind to contain the self-destruct diamond with Her Majesty. Hook's eyebrows shot up towards the sky as he realized what that meant. Swan was dead.

He shrugged off the odd feeling in his stomach and continued on towards Neverland. Still, though, he can't help but feel the tiniest bit saddened by the loss of the blonde Savior. He would miss their endless bantering, and he had to admit, she was quite the beauty. The only thing he regrets is not getting into her pants before she passed.

As he neared the shore, Hook squinted as he saw a familiar figure standing on the sand, turning in a circle to view the surroundings. It was obviously a female, judging by the curves. He was even closer now. The figure turned around, and he swore that his heart stopped as he saw a familiar flash of blonde.

Emma turned around, and to her awe, the Jolly Roger appeared.

_What the fuck?_

That was _not_ there a minute ago.

She watched as it came closer. She can already see the familiar outline of the tall, leather clad pirate from here. And she could tell that he was staring directly at her.

She crossed her arms and simply watched as he hit shore, dropped anchor, and as a wooden plank was dropped to let himself off.

He came sauntering over towards her, a content, (or almost relieved?) smirk appeared on his face. She looked up in defiance as he loomed over her.

"Hello again, Swan. Fancy seeing you here."


	3. Chapter 3

"What brings you here, darling? Last I've heard, you're supposed to be dead, along with Her Majesty, aye?" Hook raised his eyebrows.

She had recently noticed that it was probably a habit of his. He tended to raise his eyebrows, either one at a time, or both, or just plain out wiggle them in upward and downward motions.

"Yeah, I really don't know, Hook. I was supposed to die, but somehow, I ended up here. With _you _as company. I'd rather be dead, honestly."

He put his arm over his heart in mock hurt. "Oh, Swan. I'm wounded, truly. Look at my pout." He stuck out his lower lip and made it quiver. "Please, _oh please_, tell me you're just kidding, love. I actually quite enjoy your company," he shrugged nonchalantly all the while smirking.

Emma crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes at his antics. "Why did you leave us? Why didn't you help us when we all needed you?"

"Now, now, Swan. Don't be too quick to judge, darling. I actually did come back― only to see that the sleepy town of Storybrooke has disappeared into a bunch of trees. I gathered that you, being the dear daughter of the Charmings, helped Queenie with that pesky little diamond, correct? I figured that you would be dead, long gone.. yet, here we are. I had missed our banter the few hours that you were supposedly dead, love. Would've otherwise been a shame," he smirked.

"Aw, Hook, if I had known any better, I would've thought that you were actually saddened by the thought of me being dead. Still, I'm flattered."

Hook chuckled. He was about to mouth his retort when the blonde Savior suddenly turned around and walked away from him.

"Swan?" He called out. He followed behind her. "Where do you think you're going, love?"

"Enchanted Forest," she called out over her shoulder, not bothering to look back to see if he was following her or not.

"That's a bit risky, don't you think? Neverwoods are quite dangerous, darling. I don't think you'd make it through without me, hm?"

"Might as well come along then," she replied.

"Very well, darling. I wasn't aware you wanted my company so badly."

She rolled her eyes again. "Shut up, Hook." She finally turned around to face him. "So, what's the plan? How am I supposed to get back to the Enchanted Forest?"

"Eager, aren't we? Alright, love. Here's the plan.. we need to go find my dear friend Tink."

"Tink?" Emma blinked several times in confusion. "You mean she's real? Tink― as in Tinkerbell?"

"That's the one."

"How do we find her?"

"Well, love, she currently resides in Pixie Hollow, which is towards the heart of the island." Hook grimaced. "I imagine the pixies won't be happy to see me. Bloody little minxes will probably set me on fire or turn me into a pile of dust."

"What did you do to them that could possibly end up with you like that? Did you steal their pixie dust or something?" Emma scoffed.

"Aye, lass, I did. Two tons worth, actually. See, the pixies take their dust quite seriously."

Emma didn't even bother to ask what he needed the pixie dust for.

"So off towards the creepy forests of Neverwood," she breathed out as she removed her long, black pea coat and tossed it onto the deck of the Jolly Roger before turning around.

"If I may, Swan," Hook eyed her outfit for a moment and then smirked. "I do enjoy the tight pants and shoulder-baring singlets you're dressed in. Have I told you that yet, love?"

"Shut up," she said, and then walked off towards the direction of the Neverwoods.

"I'm leading, Swan. Everything in there is dangerous, even the bloody grass."

"So lead."

* * *

After trekking in the forest for three hours (that seemed like an entire lifetime to Emma), Hook found a small stream and bent down as he got out his waterskin that was hanging on his hips.

Emma stopped and put her hands on her hips as she tried to even out her breathing. Her feet ached and the heat was overwhelming, and it didn't help that she was wearing her boots that were almost knee-high.

"So, why _exactly_ are you helping me? I thought you didn't care about anyone but yourself?" Emma asked as the pirate bent back up and closed the cap to the waterskin.

Hook shrugged, but answered anyways. He refused to meet her eyes. "Perhaps I just needed reminding that I could."

As they continued their journey towards the heart of the island, Emma found the silence unnverving. Neither of them talked, unless you counted the occasional warning she got from him when he saw a particular dangerous tree or flower, something of the like.

"Swan, do not look now, but there's a white erranth staring right at us." Hook murmured over his shoulder, not looking back.

"White erranth?" She raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"It's a deadly flower, love. Quite similar to the daphne flowers from your world, except these are white instead of magenta. It follows you for about a mile until it backs away. If you turn to acknowledge its presence, it'll shoot poisonous sap right into your face, thus, burning away your flesh. Neverland is quite eccentric, don't you think?"

Emma shuddered. She could practically hear it dragging along in the dirt behind her. "How long until we're at Pixie Hollow?"

"I'd say we'd arrive by late noon tomorrow. We're going to have to camp outside for the night after that thing stops following us, seeing that it's getting dark out. That's when the bloody Lost Ones come hunting," he spat. She could already tell that these guys were not to be messed with.

"The Lost Ones?" Emma's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "Don't you mean The Lost Boys?"

"No, love. The Lost Ones and The Lost Boys are two different groups, Swan. While The Lost Ones are teenage boys running rampant around Neverland and London, working for the Pan, The Lost Boys are merely a group of small boys in a treehouse, who are working against Pan," he explained.

Emma nodded, even though he couldn't see her. After several minutes of walking, Hook no longer heard the sound of dragging dirt and stopped in his tracks. Emma had clearly been surprised and did not pay attention, which was exactly the reason why she had bumped into his back and let out a small _oof_. She was about to fall backwards (klutz that she was), when Hook turned around swiftly and caught her in his arms, lingering for a moment as he smirked down at her. It was history repeating itself, of when she had saved him for the tripwire back in the giants' lair.

"You can let go now," she said, an irritated tone in her voice.

"I'm not entirely sure I want to, Swan," he said, but ended up letting her go anyways right after. "Well, it seems as if the white erranth stopped following us. Time for bedding arangements, aye?" He grinned at her, to which she rolled her eyes. "Stay here, love. And _do not_, under any circumstances, move." Emma scowled when he gave her orders and watched as he scaled a tree and plucked off some long and large leaves. Each were probably as wide and as lengthy as Charming and Hook laying next to each other. She watched as he skillfully fashioned the leaves into a hut, with a large canopy on top, leaf "walls," and leaves covering the dirt beneath. It took him only around seven minutes (she had been counting), and he turned around to grin at her proudly when he finished. "Amazed yet, Swan?"

Emma stepped in and sat down, immediately taking off her boots and setting them to side to get relief. Hook stepped inside after her and sat down beside her.

"I do hope that you don't snore, love?" He asked, an everpresent smirk on his lips.

"No. Stay on your side, alright?"

"Why of course, Swan. What else did you expect?"

"Always the perfect gentleman, aren't you?"

"Only when it comes to you," he said. Emma raised her eyebrows, but was only met with a shit eating grin. "Night, Swan," he said, and then turned so that she faced his back.

Emma laid there for a long while. She didn't know how long it was, all she knew was that it was too cold for her to sleep. In an attempt to heat herself up, she ran her hands over her arms, moving up and down to create friction. Not long after, she found herself contemplating about her family. Mary Margaret, David, and Henry. How were they doing without her? Had they made it to the Enchanted Forest in time? Do they know she was alive? Probably not.

"Emma, love, would you stop the chattering of your teeth? If you want body warmth, all you need to do is ask," he turned around and opened his bright blue eyes. He sat up and removed his long, leather overcoat and draped it over her. He then laid back down and slung an arm over her waist lazily and went back to closing his eyes.

"Hook.." she whispered. She calculated her options. She can shove him and his jacket off from her and not gain any sleep or energy for the journey tomorrow, or she can sleep soundly and get renewed energy and fresh eyes for tomorrow. The sooner they found Tinkerbell, the sooner she was reunited with her family. "Fine, but no funny moves, alright?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, love," he said, his voice muffled because his face was buried in her shoulder.

She sighed and nestled into him, taking in the warmth.

Before she knew it, she was asleep.

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**review! thanks!**


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